What will be different this year? This year, I’m a Golden Heart® Award Finalist for my romantic suspense, THE HUSTLER. *Cue internal screaming* For those who aren’t familiar with the Golden Heart, they are the romance industry’s top awards for unpublished writers. The counterpart award for published authors, the RITAs, are essentially like the romance-version of the Oscars. Which means dresses. Or, if you’re me, a sleek jumpsuit and sparkle shoes.

In an effort to squash my procrastinator tendencies when it comes to packing, I’ve made a list. Here it is:

• Business cards
• Laptop (for word sprints and/or brainstorming)
• Phone charger & external battery
• Melatonin
• Headphones
• Notepad
• Extra pens
• Printed blurbs and pitches for each book (to reference while pitching)
• A packed duffle bag to take back All of the Books
• Gum
• Toiletries & personal effects
• 4 business casual outfits
• 2 dresses
• 1 fancy jumpsuit
• Shoes galore

Am I missing anything? What else should I bring? Let me know in the comments!

P.S. You can watch the Golden Heart Awards—live!

If you’d like to watch the Golden Heart Awards live and cheer me on from afar, mark your calendars! On July 25 at 12:15–2:00pm go to www.rwa.org and click on the link to the livestream that will be posted on the homepage shortly before the event. Wish me luck!

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And holy cheese and crackers, Batman, am I excited.

Because of work, life, etc etc, I didn’t have the head space until today to even contemplate that Nationals was around the corner. Now? I’ve downloaded the conference app; poured over the amazing line-up of events, workshops, and attending authors (and maybe drooled just a little bit); dragged my dusty suitcase out of the basement; and booked my shuttle to/from the Orlando airport. In short, THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING! I’M GOING TO NATIONALS!

This isn’t my first writers conference, but it will be my first time at RWA’s national conference. My hopes for this experience are floating somewhere near cruising altitude. What do I want to get out of it?

Connect with other writers. Writing can be a lonely gig. Typically, it’s just me, my computer, and the ideas bouncing around my brain. Which is why I love meeting other writers. It’s so much more fun to share the journey with like-minded friends, don’t you think? Plus some of my favorite authors will be there (squee!). I’m going to try very hard not to fangirl-out when I spot them, but I make no promises.

Learn, learn, and learn some more. Goal: Hoover up any and all information I can about craft/publishing/the business of being a writer. Since there’s way more on the schedule than any one person could do, I have a feeling my special challenge this week will be pacing myself. At least conference audio recordings will be available for most sessions after the fact, whew.

Have fun. As much as RWA Nationals is about networking and learning, it will also serve as a much-needed break from the daily grind. Plus Disney. And RWA Kiss of Death’s Death by Chocolate party (mmm, chocolate) & Daphne award ceremony (I’m a finalist this year, huzzah!). And the Golden Heart & RITAs. So much fun to be had in Orlando, ya’ll. Bring on the #RWA17 good times!

Be inspired. One of the things I love best about romance is that it’s a genre written largely by women, for women. So now, I get to attend a multi-day event with other (mostly female) writers who are poised to make a difference to societal norms and in women’s lives by crafting empowering fiction? Um, yes please.

With #RWA17 starting in two days, I’ll find out soon whether the experience lives up to the hype. For now? Time to pack. Check back in the coming weeks for my #RWA17 thoughts and take-aways!

What else should I be looking forward to at #RWA17? Share in the comments!

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[cue happy dance!]

I couldn’t be more thrilled about this honor. Thanks are owed to my inexhaustible agent, Patricia Nelson of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, and my fabulously critical beta readers, without whom THE HUSTLER wouldn’t be in the shape it is today.

Congratulations to my fellow Daphne finalists! I look forward to celebrating with you at RWA Nationals this year!

About The Daphne: The Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense is named for Daphne du Maurier, the author of REBECCA, a suspense novel with romantic and gothic overtones and a precursor to today’s romantic suspense. The Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense is a writing contest for published and unpublished authors of romantic suspense, mystery, suspense and thrillers with romantic subplots and mainstream mystery, suspense and thrillers.

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It’s been a few weeks since I returned from Chicago-North RWA’s 2016 Spring Fling writers conference, so I’ve had some time to synthesize my experience beyond “SO AMAZING BLERGH-AHHHH!!!!” It was my first writers conference of any kind, let alone my first romance writers conference, and it was So. Good. Not only did I learn a ton about the craft and business of writing, but I left feeling truly inspired by the power of romance.

Here are some of my favorite moments from the conference:

• Opening keynote from headliner Courtney Milan ripping apart the notion that “all happy families are alike” and therefore romance novels are unoriginal (you’re wrong, Tolstoy). Favorite quote: “We aren’t happy because bad things don’t happen to us, but in spite of, or because of, them.” Also a poignant plea for more diversity in the romance genre.
• Meeting fellow writers and making new friends. I know I’m a cheeseball, you don’t have to say it.
• Headliner Robyn Carr on her secret to avoiding writers block and getting through that first draft: “I’m perfectly willing to write crap.”
• Workshops, workshops, workshops. In particular, Sarah M. Anderson‘s “What to Expect When You’re Revising” and Briana MacPerry‘s “Plotting Through Characterization.” Thrilled to come away with many concrete ideas/skills to apply to my own WIP.
• Popping my pitch cherry with two literary agents…and receiving manuscript requests. Huzzah!
• Swag. Free, glorious swag, including books. So many free books.

  

• Keynote speech by Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, aka Christina Lauren, one of my all-time favorite writers. Earnest, funny, charming accounts of their journey toward publication and on to becoming international bestselling authors. I laughed, I cried, I had all the feels.
• Book signing. Did I mention Christina Lauren are my faves?
• Author Sonali Dev‘s take on why we read and write romance, in one word: the “heartgasm.”
• Writer & book reviewer Bobbi Dumas deconstructing romance genre stereotypes. Be proud to read romance!
• Pre-Gala Dinner drinks and conversation at the hotel bar with new friends.
• Robyn Carr’s final keynote: to be successful at writing romance, “make them feel.”
• The Gala Dinner. And not just because the Fire and Ice contest results were announced and my entry won first place in the romantic suspense category (although that was amazing). There was also delicious food, boppin’ tunes, and memorable company: the perfect capstone to an incredible weekend.

The post Spring Fling Fever: Favorite Moments at My First Romance Writers Conference appeared first on Angie Hockman.

Do it. I just attended my first, Chicago-North RWA’s 2016 Spring Fling, and it was 1000% worth it. There were informative panels; valuable craft and publishing workshops; pitch appointments with agents and editors; and uh-mazing headliners. Christina Lauren, Courtney Milan, and Robyn Carr? Yes, please!

It was an all-around incredible experience, but being a conference newbie (and a toddler mom with sleep-deprived lasagna brain half the time), I did make a few rookie mistakes.

So here is my list of what NOT to do at a writers conference. I made all of these mistakes, so now you don’t have to!

Mistake #1: Not signing up for an agent and/or editor pitch appointment.

I knew when I registered for the conference that there was an option to pitch a manuscript to an agent and/or editor, but like a dope, I didn’t make an appointment.

“My first draft is finished, but I’m still revising. It’s too soon!” I thought.

Fast forward to day one of the writers conference. One of the favorite ice-breaker questions besides “what do you write?” was “are you pitching an agent?” When I said no, people looked at me like I was a nun at a Sex Pistols concert. “Oh no, you should pitch. It doesn’t matter that your novel isn’t polished.”

I was skeptical until I attended an agent panel later that day and learned that typically you have up to a year to send your work to an agent who has requested it. No one expects it next week. If you have a viable draft but are still a few months away from a polished manuscript, pitch away. Just be honest with the agent/editor about where you’re at with the project (i.e., don’t lie).

I promptly asked the conference coordinators whether it was too late to pitch an agent. It turns out they were able to slip me in last-minute. I pitched not one but two agents, and guess what? I got full and partial manuscript requests. Huzzah!

Moral of the story? Sign up to pitch, even if you’re still revising. And if you pull a dopey move like me and elect not to sign up in advance (or if you forget), always ask about availability when you arrive because a shocking number of people sign up to pitch but blow it off. Don’t do that either. Sign up, show up, and rock that pitch. You might just get lucky. If you don’t? It was good practice anyway.

Mistake #2: Not silencing your cell phone before a pitch appointment

Yes, my phone rang in the middle of a pitch.  The ringer on my cell phone is off 90% of the time mostly because I turn it off at night and frequently forget to turn it back on in the morning. But during the eight minutes I’m in a meeting with an agent on a Saturday afternoon? Chime city, full blast.

You do not want your phone to ring during a pitch.

The agent I was pitching happened to be super understanding (she requested my full manuscript anyway), but you feel like an idiot. And no matter how nice the agent is about it, it’s still unprofessional and disrupts the flow of the meeting.

Silence that cell phone, fool.

Mistake #3: Forgetting your business cards.

The week before the writers conference, I spent an hour ordering business cards on Vista. I even paid extra for faster shipping just so I’d be sure they’d arrive in time. Where were they during the conference? At home, sitting in my office. I literally brought everything else I could think of including a backup phone charger, safety pins, and extra chapstick, but I forgot the business cards.

Not a wise move. Three people asked for my card outright, which I couldn’t provide, and several other writers gave me their cards in exchange for…nothing, because I forgot my business cards at home. Apart from feeling like a total greenhorn, I definitely missed out on some clutch networking opportunities. Rookie mistake. Double check your cards before you leave home, people!

Mistake #4: Not wearing comfortable shoes.

You do a lot of sitting at a writers conference, so you wouldn’t think that comfortable shoes would be a big deal. I knew I’d be doing quite a bit of airport walking on this trip, so I intentionally packed comfortable shoes…or so I thought.

The first day of the conference I wore a dress with knee-high leather boots. The boots themselves were comfy, but what I failed to take into account were the metal buckles at the top of the boots. Every time I crossed my legs, the buckles dug into my knees. So I ended up sitting with my feet flat on the floor most of the day, which was awkward for note-taking and, after several hours, incredibly uncomfortable.

My advice? Try on your footwear (and clothing) in advance, and make sure you’ll be comfortable sitting as well as standing and walking. Otherwise, it will be a very long day.

Mistake #5: Not drinking enough water.

“Drink water” sounds totally duh, but when you’re caught up in the whirlwind of conference panels, workshops, and networking, it’s easy to forget to stay hydrated.

The first day of the conference I left my water bottle in my room, and by four o’clock I had a skull-cracking headache. Bring water, and sip it throughout the day so you don’t get dehydrated. Because duh.

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Now that you know my five rookie mistakes and how to avoid them, get out there and register for your next writers conference! Even if you make mistakes of your own, you won’t regret the experience. I promise.

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